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Now that the Washington Nationals are World Series champions, I thought I’d take a moment to revisit my 2019 predictions for who’d wind up in the postseason and win it.
The predictions were somewhat parochial. I honestly thought the Cubs had enough to get back to the postseason, push through the playoff labyrinth, and win the World Series.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. We hope for better things in 2020.
You can read my entire preseason schematic at the link above, but here’s who I picked for the 10 postseason spots.
National League
Division champions: Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers
Wild cards: Braves, Brewers
Well, I got three of the five teams right, anyway, even if not all in the right places. Then I picked the Braves to win the wild-card game and the Cubs to defeat them in a division series while the Phillies beat the Dodgers, and the Cubs to win the NLCS over Philadelphia.
N.L. postseason predictions: a big fat zero, other than the Dodgers losing a division series, even if that was to a team that I didn’t even think would make the postseason.
American League
Division champions: Yankees, Indians, Astros
Wild cards: Red Sox, Athletics
This one was a bit of a risk. I chose a 108-win World Series champion to not even win its division. That turned out to be correct, though I had Boston in the postseason and they, like the Cubs, watched it on TV with the rest of us.
Once again, I got three of five correct here, including two of the division titlists. I’m guessing not very many preseason prognosticators picked the Twins to win the A.L. Central.
I had the A’s losing the wild-card game. That was right, anyway, even if it wasn’t to the Red Sox (the Rays beat them, in case you’ve already forgotten).
Then I picked the Red Sox to beat the Yankees and the Astros over the Indians, so I got one of the ALCS participants right, anyway. I chose the Red Sox to win the A.L. pennant, and the Cubs to beat them in the World Series.
Hey, a guy can dream, right? I’ll try to make more accurate predictions in 2020.